A History of Violence

"In this family, we do not solve problems by hitting people!" "No, in this family, we shoot them!"
I think you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't find Viggo Mortensen to be an utter BAMF; roles such as Aragorn in the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy and the quiet Russian mobster Nikolai in Eastern Promises give us no other option but to think so. But the opening of this movie would have you think otherwise.
As it starts, we find Viggo as Tom Stall, the tender, loving father of two and kind husband to his lovely wife, played by Maria Bello. They reside in a picturesque, albeit simple looking town in Indiana, inhabited by pleasant people, who know everyone else by name, and exchange jokes and stories as they go about their days. Through these images, we come across the movie's first major strength: setting a tone. But I'm getting ahead of myself; allow me to backtrack a bit.
The actual movie's opening, while taking a bit of time to develop, sets a tone of extreme, wanton violence in sharp contrast to the following scenes with our hero, Tom Stall. The transition between these two diametrically opposed ideas takes the form of Stall's daughter waking up from a nightmare. This leaves us to wonder whether or not the gruesome events that introduced the film were all just a terrifying dream of the awful things that might happen in this world. This possibility is denied in a timely fashion, but not before showing further development of the family characters. And the movie's second strength, pacing, makes itself apparent. Some would disagree with me on this, but I'll get into that discussion at the end.
The calm of the movie is broken both slowly and then all at once as an Tom foils an attempted robbery, getting his foot stabbed in the process. A hero, Tom is welcomed back from the hospital by praise from his friends and unnecessary media attention. With his picture on news channels everywhere, a few people recognize him and decide to pay a visit.
As characters from Tom's past begin to rear their ugly (scarred) faces, we begin to question how well these he represents the wholesome family man he was made out to be. Or, we tend to question how much of his story is truth vs. the stories told by the outsiders. The final question, why is "Tom" so good at killing people, sets the ball rolling on the second half of the movie, which dives head first into that past that is both terrifying and captivating. He has to face his past, while trying to keep his family from being dragged into it. The second of these two garners mixed results; as for confronting his past- it more confronts him in the end. But I'll let you see it rather than explain.
Now, about the pacing and technical aspects. Sure, at times the movement seems slow (from a cynic's point of view), but to call that unnecessary is going too far. The movie is very much about a progression, a steady revelation of the truth about Tom Stall's past and the measures he took to leave it behind. While occasionally a tad overdramatic in scenes concerning the high school students' competition over alpha badass standing, the overall feel is consistently set appropriately and with a well-practiced hand. The lighting offers to alter or otherwise enhance the feeling of each scene. Camerawork is decent with some impressive timing and shots, but it is mostly simple fixed camera; composition is the only thing that sets it apart. I would say that the main drawback is the acting performances from some of the side roles, especially that of Stall's daughter. The technical details remain this way throughout the movie, changing as our opinion does.
Ultimately, this movie has a solid premise, well above average execution, and a great balance between heart-pounding action (short-lived, but worth), and dramatic dialogue. Some of the acting detracts from the otherwise consistent feel, and the development at the beginning seems slow at times, but the overall package is well worth it. In the end, I tip my hat to Vigo for another impressive performance.
Overall score: 4 out of 5